


Demon in a Bottle

by Elexica



Series: Elexica does AU-gust 2020 [4]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: AU-gust 2020, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Kaiba Seto Has Issues, M/M, Overdose, kaiba whump, ygocollablove
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:13:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25718626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elexica/pseuds/Elexica
Summary: Kaiba overdoses.
Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto
Series: Elexica does AU-gust 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860052
Kudos: 14
Collections: AUgust 2020





	Demon in a Bottle

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt was “Angels & Demons.” Which made me think of “Demon in a Bottle” arc from 1980’s Iron Man comics. So y’know some word association went on there. And I can’t seem to make it through even two days without more Kaiba whump. So here’s prescription drug addict Kaiba. 
> 
> HUGE TRIGGER WARNING – drug use, overdose, addiction, major character harm  
> As with all of my drug fics, please do not mistake this for glorification of drugs. Drug abuse is serious business, and I write about it for the same reasons we all write about hard things—to try and learn some peace for myself and to let my mind work through things. I share for anyone who can benefit from that.  
> This fic was drafted during a scramble game with the glorious Life-or-Death and that queen Cleopatra. Prompt for that: “Is being high all the time worth losing everything?”  
> All mistakes are my own. (including the mistake of writing this)

“Maybe I need better love

Or better friends I can trust

I can watch the money pile up

But when I think about it

But when I think about it

I just want better drugs”

  * “Better Drugs” by Lolandre



“Is being high all the time worth losing everything?” Joey was in Seto’s office. His square shoulders were bracketed by the expanse of the twinkling lights of Domino City. He looked very worried, his hair out of place, eyes wide and pleading. It all seemed very flat to Seto—everything as to dimensional as his computer screen.

“Yes,” Seto answered curtly. The venom was there, but the bite was weaker. He tossed the little white pills in, and swallowed them dry. The exchange was so distant, it was like they weren’t even in the same room.

His long fingers carefully screwed the white cap back on to the orange pill bottle. He gently placed the Oxycontin bottle back in his desk drawer, and he returned to his computer. 

. . .

The workshop lights were always too bright, and he was careful to turn them down until the room had the ambiance of a romantic candlelit dinner. 

He had tested his tolerance this time, Seto realized, as his fingers moved too slowly, too numbly. He was too tired, and at the same time entirely restless. At least for a few minutes, he felt absolutely no pain. Not the physical pain of carpal tunnel, or fingers jammed between mechanical pieces of duel disks, and not the emotional pain that consumed so much of his life, dictated so many of his wild decisions.

He’d done all that struggling, tried to defeat Yugi for so long, and for what? If only he had known, all those years ago, that there was such an accessible biochemical bliss... A softness that he could access within the confines of his own head at his own leisure. A solution, just one prescription away, that could clear out all of that. 

An induced peace.

The scars didn’t burn into his back, the voice that told him he was nothing, silenced with just a small molecule.

The satisfaction that he was chasing, the freedom from the prison he was in, just one pill away.

He reached for the pill bottle he left on his workspace and expertly opened it.

Just one _more_ pill away.

. . .

Joey found him, unconscious on the floor of his lab. His breathing was shallow, his head dropped against his own shoulder. Joey held him tight to Joey’s chest, feeling the slow heartbeat against his own ribcage.

He looked asleep, relaxed, at peace. Joey did not recognize the man in his arms. He was certain the limpness and distance of the man could not possibly belong to his husband.

**Author's Note:**

> Don’t do drugs kids. Just like the Pharaoh said, "Losing control with drugs is one duel I don’t want to have." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkGaxbaFaT8
> 
> Seek help if you need it. https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline


End file.
